March 3, 2010
Written by Jeff Woodard

When "The Fire" starts in the desert at Rincon United Church of Christ in Tucson, it can spread quickly. The Fire – aka the youth group at Rincon UCC – fed its desire for service by participating in February's Souper Bowl of Caring. They raised more than $700 and nearly 100 cans of food for their local food bank.

But they were just getting warmed up. Faster than you can say "Cupid's arrow," the group was planning, producing and selling Valentine candy as a fundraiser for victims of the Haiti earthquake.

"Originally, we were going to sell Valentine cards," says John Angiulo, director of Christian Education at Rincon. "But the cards proved to be too expensive. So we sent the card prototypes we had made to our elderly and homebound members as greetings."

The Fire, comprising 15 middle- and high-school students, then donned its collective apron, rolled up its sleeves and set its sights on sweets. "Since this was our first year doing this, we were not sure how much candy would be needed or how it would taste," says Angiulo. "We had to eat some of it, of course, just to make sure it was a quality product."

A few sprinkles of adult supervision and a dash of professional-looking packaging completed the effort. The group sold more than 50 boxes containing chocolate truffles (mocha, raspberry, orange and rum extract) and chocolate nut clusters (pecans, macadamia chips and walnuts). Church members and visitors bought the candy during a youth-organized coffee fellowship in the church's prayer garden.

Proceeds for Haiti totaled $219 – though The Fire might have underestimated the congregation's sweet tooth. "We had a line of people wanting to buy when we ran out of boxes," says Angiulo.

"We had a lot of fun coming together and getting messy making the candy," says Angiulo. "And we tried to demonstrate what true love is on Valentine's Day, as opposed to the artificial, consumer-driven love that usually defines the day."

United Church of Christ News Service